Snacks & Noodles

South Asian snacking runs on crunch. There is the handful of namkeen with evening chai, the rusk dunked at breakfast, the poppadom beside the rice, and the pani puri eaten one after another at a chaat stall. This department brings those snacks together with the quick meals of the noodle shelf, from masala noodles to Korean ramen and Sri Lankan noodles for stir frying.

For tea-time, look at namkeen, the Gujarati and Punjabi savoury snacks such as fafda and namak para, and mathri and papdi, the flaky fried biscuits of Punjab and the crisp discs used in papdi chaat. Rusks and khari are made for dunking in chai, and roasted makhana, or fox nuts, gives a lighter crunch.

For chaat at home, pani puri kits, puris and pani mixes give you golgappa without a trip to the stall. Poppadoms and papad cover everything from Madras appalam to jeera papad, and fryums, the dried shapes that puff up in hot oil, are a children's favourite at parties.

The noodle shelf covers every style: Indian masala noodles, oriental instant packets, fiery Korean ramen, Indo-Chinese hakka noodles and Sri Lankan noodles for stir frying and kottu. Noodles sit alongside wheat and rice vermicelli for semiya payasam, upma and sheer khurma.

Most crisp snacks go stale for one reason: air. Fold the bag tightly and clip it, or tip the contents into an airtight tin, and keep poppadoms, papad and fryums in a dry cupboard away from the steam of the kettle. Stale papad or namkeen can often be revived in a warm oven for a few minutes.